In Salt Lake City, murals memorializing George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others come tumbling down

When the walls of a vacant public building in Salt Lake City became a canvas to commemorate victims of police violence, the 8.5-acre area of town known as Fleet Block gave a “sense of cultural inclusion” to the city, which is predominantly white.

When the walls of a vacant public building in Salt Lake City became a canvas to commemorate victims of police violence, the 8.5-acre area of town known as Fleet Block gave a “sense of cultural inclusion” to the city, which is predominantly white.

“It’s for the wrong reason — death at the hands of officers — but it was a place for us to mourn and show respect for the lives lost,” said Mona Robinson, who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb.

That space for respect is gone now, she said, as Fleet Block and its 26 red and magenta murals — including likenesses of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — were demolished over the course of several weeks to make way for housing, small businesses and open public spaces.

The demolition of the murals is not related to President Donald Trump’s executive order to roll back what he calls “divisive” documentations of American history in public parks and museums, but this action, “in some ways, shows what matters to us doesn’t matter to them — whether here or anywhere else in America,” Robinson said. 

Following Floyd’s murder almost five years ago at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, that part of town became a rallying point for social justice demonstrations. Memorial services were held there, and soon an anonymous group of artists began painting the faces of people who were killed during interactions with police. The building was situated on city-owned land where its fleet of transportation operations once existed.